If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Bruce: On 0-5 Performance

Was perusing some some spots and picked this up. Pretty good stuff on his performance or lack thereof from the young fella himself. It's of note that he was going against a good young LHP. Gio Gonzalez the one dealt from the Chi-Sox to the Phillies for Thome and then back to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia I believe. BTW I think it may be time for Bruce to be called the #1 prospect in our system now.

The new-look Chattanooga Lookouts didn't look good Thursday night at AT&T Field, dropping an 8-3 decision to Birmingham. The Lookouts extended their scoreless-innings streak to 31 through the first two innings, but starting pitcher Carlos Fisher gave up four runs in the third and couldn't recover.

Fisher snapped the streak by walking Michael Myers with nobody out and the bases loaded.

"I hadn't done that in such a long time, probably since high school," Fisher said. "It just wasn't a good day for me."

Chattanooga dropped to 3-1 in the Southern League's second half, while Birmingham improved to 1-3. Had the Barons been shut out a fourth consecutive game, they would have tied the league record by going 36 innings without a run.

It was a less-than-stellar Double-A debut for Lookouts outfielder Jay Bruce, the No. 2 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization who was promoted Wednesday from high Single-A Sarasota. Bruce played center and had a nice throw to third for a first-inning out, but the promising lefty went 0-for-5 at the plate with four swinging strikeouts.

His first three strikeouts were on curveballs thrown by Birmingham lefty starter Gio Gonzalez.

"I was just a little too jerky those first three at-bats," Bruce said. "I would see that curveball and try to jerk it instead of staying up the middle with it. Chasing is chasing, and that's what I was doing. I was making him a lot better than he was.

"He's a good pitcher, but I got dominated tonight and shouldn't have."

Lookouts manager Jayhawk Owens said his 20-year-old newcomer was probably a little too excited but said that he can learn from the experience.

"It will be with Bruce like it was with Joey Votto last year," Owens said. "When it's a left-handed pitcher, he's going to be in there. This is about development, and the more lefties they see, the better."

Fisher, who allowed 11 earned runs through his first eight Double-A starts, gave up eight runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He also allowed four walks and hit a batter as his ERA jumped from 2.09 to 3.31.

A Thomas Collaro sacrifice to left after Fisher's bases-loaded walk got the Barons within 3-2, and they tied the game when Cory Aldridge followed with a single up the middle. Birmingham went ahead to stay when a Jeremy Frost ground out scored Myers to cap the four-run inning.

"My innings are getting up there, and maybe my arm isn't where it should be," Fisher said. "I don't know. They hit some good pitches, and I couldn't put them away. My slider is not what it usually is. Guys are fouling it off a lot and then putting it in play.

"Mechanically I'm falling off a little bit, so I've just got to go back and work on things and focus a little better."

Chattanooga established a brief 3-0 lead in the second inning on Luis Bolivar's two-run triple to right and a successful suicide squeeze performed by Bolivar and Drew Anderson, who wound up reaching safely. Bolivar tripled again in the fourth with one out but was left stranded.

First baseman Adam Rosales and reliever Josh Roenicke also played with the Lookouts for the first time after coming up from Sarasota. Rosales went 0-for-4, but Roenicke rolled through a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts.

Sam Lecure (4-0, 3.58) is scheduled to start tonight's 7:15 matchup for the Lookouts, with Chris Honel (5-5, 4.50) scheduled for the Barons.

Last edited by Mario-Rijo; 06-23-2007 at 08:29 AM.

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."

Re: Bruce: On 0-5 Performance

The 20-year-old Bruce went 0-for-5 with four swinging strikeouts in his Double-A debut Thursday and missed Friday's 14-inning win with a stomach virus. He opened Saturday with a two-run home run to left and added an infield hit in the fourth inning and an RBI single to right in the fifth.

Re: Bruce: On 0-5 Performance

Spin it however you like, 0 fer 5 with the platinum sombrero is a miserable debut. It ranks right up there with the infamous "How many E's in Pokey Reese?" game on opening day of the 1998 season.

Hopefully, Bruce can put this one in his rearview mirror and get on with the business of destroying minor league pitching.

Spin? That's not spin. Sounds to me like he analyzed his play, recognized his flaw and corrected for it the next game. That, my friend, is what it takes to be a winner.

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. -- Terrance Mann (Field of Dreams)

Re: Bruce: On 0-5 Performance

Despite the performance, it sounds like he's really got his head on straight in terms of approach.

Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

Re: Bruce: On 0-5 Performance

BTW, since his 0-5 start, Bruce is 10-18 with 3 homers and 8 RsBI

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. -- Terrance Mann (Field of Dreams)

Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please.

Thank you, and most
importantly, enjoy yourselves!

RedsZone.com is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds or Major League Baseball